Robison died of natural causes at his Lubbock home overnight Thursday, according to his family. His funeral arrangements have yet to be made, his family said.

"Coach Robison was perhaps the greatest coach, administrator, person that's ever been associated with Texas Tech athletics," said Gerald Myers, the university's director of athletics, who played for Robison.

As a Tech basketball coach, Robison produced a string of award-winning players and snagged multiple regional conference wins, paving the way, many said, for Tech's hard-fought inclusion in the Southwest Conference in 1956. He coached for 18 seasons, from 1942 to 1961, earning a reputation as a gentleman who expected the best from his players, those who knew him said.

His teams won three consecutive Border Conference titles from 1953 to 1956, and he and his players were the first from Tech to snag a Southwest Conference championship in 1961.

"It was a monumental milestone in making Texas Tech a major college athletic force to be reckoned with. Because of the success in the Southwest Conference, we got into the Big 12," said the coach's son-in-law, Walt Huffman, dean of the Tech School of Law.

The son of a Presbyterian minister, Robison rarely raised his voice during games, those who knew him said. Instead, he would kick his leg high into the air during tense moments, sometimes falling from stages and bleachers.

"If the day comes when I can sit still during a game, I'd better quit coaching," Robison told The A-J in 1958.

But he was a tough coach. He expected his players to not only be the best athletes they could, but the best men they could be, they said.

"He taught us a lot. Not just basketball, but about our lives," said Ned Underwood, who lives in Snyder and played basketball for Tech from 1953-57.

Robison - still the second winningest coach in Tech's history - moved on from the basketball court in 1961 to serve as the university's athletic director, a position he held until 1969. He also left a legacy there, overseeing the construction of a new basketball arena in the City Bank Coliseum and adding some 15,000 seats to Tech's football stadium.

Born in Springfield, Tenn., Robison graduated from Tech in 1934 with a degree in journalism. Standing six feet and two inches, he played center for the university's basketball team, which also won Border Conference championships. His time away from the university was short. He coached high school football and did contract work for General Motors for a few years before returning to Lubbock.

Robison retired from the athletic department in 1977. Still, he attended Tech sports events until last year, Myers said.